Thursday, March 31, 2005

Each week I highlight crazy letters to the editors of Newsday and amNew York. I finally found one that inspired me to do a little research and write back with the facts. Below is the letter I am referring to and below that is the response I sent back to the editors of am New York.

Here is the letter I wrote the editors:

In response to the letter Wrong Again [AM NY 3/31], the author clearly does not let the facts get in the way of them bashing our president and his every action. What they were referring to was the announcement that the United States will provide $3.2 million in aid to the military of Guatemala. First, the money will be used for non-lethal equipment and maintenance. Second and most important, the funds are to help the Latin American country combat the illegal narcotics trade, surely the author would not oppose fewer drugs coming into the country, even if it came under President Bush's watch.

Furthermore, what Ms. Patrick also leaves out is that through USAid, since 2002 we have sent $149 million in aid to help the poor and starving kids of Guatemala and are expected to spend $38 million in 2005.In summary, the $3.2 million we are sending to help battle the drug runners, using non-lethal equipment is a drop in the bucket compared to the $38 million this country is sending the small country. Ms. Patrick should retract her claws, swallow her bile and realize that the small investment is helping keep drugs off our streets.

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

When Politics and Ethics Come Full CircleIn two previous posts here and here I described the start of problems for Tennessee State Senator John Ford (D-Memphis). It's turning out to be the proverbial tip of the ethics iceberg.

It all began to unfold for Senator Ford when he fought a petition from one of three women he has fathered children in her attempt to win an increase in child support payments. The woman was only getting $500 a month from Ford. The court proceedings uncovered around $300,000 in annual undisclosed income from unethical "consulting" work on behalf of firms who looked to influence Ford and his seat on three TennCare committees. This was on top of the $356,899 he earned legally in 2003. The courts ruled that Ford must up his child support payments. But, with the unwanted publicity of the ethical violations and investigations, the money Ford was earning on the side disappeared. Ford is now petitioning a Shelby County court to lower his child support payments due to the loss of income.

To top all this (yes it gets better), Senator Ford is facing mounting legal bills due to his unethical actions. The senator approached a Capitol Hill lobbyist and asked for a donation to help pay for his legal woes. I'll repeat that, the senator approached a Capitol Hill lobbyist and asked for a donation to help pay for his legal woes. Ford told the lobbyist ''I do have a legal defense fund. If you can help me, I'd appreciate it.'' In the state of Tennessee it is against the law for lawmakers to ask for gifts from lobbyists and for lobbyists to provide gifts to lawmakers. Chalk another one up for Senator Ford.

Ford is currently under investigation for:

Using his position on a Senate committee for child welfare to benefit his child support issues. He has six kids from three women and maintains two households. One child only gets $500 a month from Ford, who earned $356,899 in 2003 (minus bribes).

Representing a district he does not reside in, a violation of state law. He lists his family's funeral home as his place of residence, which is in his district.

Ford is sponsoring a bill that would directly benefit his family's funeral home; the bill could run lower cost funeral homes out of business.

Accepting $237,000 in bribe money from a business looking to score TennCare projects. Ford sits on three committees that influence TennCare, a failed socialized healthcare program that is ripe with fraud. The TBI has initiated a criminal investigation into Ford's actions.

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

The following was taken from an interview with a journo-activist named Naomi Klein and Amy Goodman from Democracy Now on March 25th. The subject was Klein's conversations with Communist Journalist Giuliana Sgrena. Goodman is the one asking the questions; Klein is the one wearing the tin hat.The same tired conspiracy theories of the US Army going out and shooting at Giuliana's car were rehashed. The most amusing exchange involved a simple question which I do not think was ever answered.

AMY GOODMAN: Did Giuliana talk about her time in captivity and who held her, Naomi Klein?

NAOMI KLEIN:Yes, she did. I mean, she talked about this incredible disorientation. I think -- I know that you have covered the case on your show, and you have really stressed the fact that Giuliana's experience is not at all unique from the perspective of Iraqis who are living in this sort of pincer of the fear of being caught in a bombing by the resistance or a fear of being shot by U.S. soldiers at a checkpoint, and this is an ongoing fear every time Iraqis leave their home, and we're only hearing about this because there was foreigner involved, because it was such a dramatic incident. But I think the other part of the story is the implications for journalists and for independent journalists, because Giuliana Sgrena is really a hero, and she is an incredibly committed war correspondent who has put herself in situations of tremendous risk around the world. She has been to Iraq many, many times. And she went back to Iraq after Simona Pari and Simona Torretta had been kidnapped and released. She told me she has met with the Simonas in her hospital room, as well as several other people who had been kidnapped. She referred to it as the ex-kidnapped club. And she went knowing these risks, but one thing she told me that I think is an issue that you have discussed often on the show is the implications for all of this, for whether independent journalists can do their job in Iraq. And coming from someone who has been willing to take such tremendous risks, she said she just cannot figure out how it's possible at this point. This is because the people who held her made it very clear to her that they don't want independent journalists working in Iraq talking to Iraqis. And this was really one of the most disturbing details and, I think, a very telling detail. She told them that that made them just like Bush, because the Bush administration has also made it clear that they don't want independent witnesses talking to Iraqis, counting the bodies, highlighting the civilian toll of the war, but there are also clearly some elements of the resistance that feel the same way, and this makes it very, very difficult for independent journalists to do their work.

An objective interviewer might have followed up this remark with "Thanks, but really, did Giuliana talk about her time in captivity?"

Klein also states early in the interview:

I want to be really clear about is that Giuliana is not saying that she's certain in any way that the attack on the car was intentional...

...but later states it is almost impossible that the shooting wasn't intentional

...But one thing that's very clear is that if she is on this road, and the way she explains it, she had to go through a U.S. checkpoint in order to get into the Green Zone. You can only access this road through the Green Zone... So, the idea that the American military didn't know that they were on the road, that they -- that didn't know about their presence is impossible.... What Giuliana was talking about was what she was -- the only thing she could figure out is that the people who they checked in with in the Green Zone, the U.S. soldiers they checked in with in the Green Zone in order to get in, didn't radio ahead to these mobile checkpoints and warn them that they were coming. And from her perspective, that could have either been a mistake, or it could have been some sort of act of vengeance and anger, you know, and we know that there's a lot of anger at the idea that Italians may be paying very large ransoms for the release of prisoners. She's not alleging some grand conspiracy. There could have just been a broken down communication. But the idea that they didn't know, I think, is impossible, if she was on this secured road, because it emerged out of the Green Zone and you cannot get into the grown zone without passing through a checkpoint.

I was browsing through the Most Popular news stories on Yahoo and noticed this story. Nothing wrong with it, but look at the picture they chose to show next to it. Are they suggesting Bush/Cheney supporters are too sleepy for sex?

This story is a little odd. The "news" paper that brought us Bat Boy, aliens, and Elvis now details our VPs wild college days. According to the Weekly World News, Dick Cheney was a nude male model while at the University of Wyoming.

"Of course, back then he went by the name 'Big D___ Cheney,' as he was rather, um, well-endowed -- which put him in great demand."

The show-and-tell story also outs Barbra Boxer as a bachelor party stripper, Ted Kennedy working as a male escort, and Condi posing for Black booty magazine (3 times). They even state that loveable Laura Bush once worked as a fluffer.

Big D. Career Contest:Expose other public figures and their past careers (Ted Kennedy as a water taxi pilot, George Bush working at Chuck-e-Cheese, etc). Either post comments or email me. Photoshop entries are welcome and will be posted below.

Photoshop entriesTo help the Cuban economy, Castro worked part-time as a mall Santa in Havana. He quit after only a few weeks, complaining that most of the kids wanted be an American for Christmas and the head elf refused to imprison them. - The Man

While Newsday is Long Island's liberal rag, they produce a free newspaper called amNew York, who like Newsday, never lets the news get in the way of their bias. Two letters to the editor in today's paper caught my eye and inspired me to drop my weekly Newsday bash, in favor of the freebie.

Yes to RudyMayor Rudy did a great job in cleaning up New York, making it safe again and helped restore pride in The Big Apple. Then came 9/11, where he pulled the city out of the ashes and was an inspiration to a shaken city and nation. 2006 will bring us either Governor Rudy or Senator Rudy; Hillary will be sent home to bake cookies for Bill. In 2000, Rudy would have beat Hill in the Senate race; if it were not for a little cancer and some infidelity (insert your own Clinton joke here).

If You Can't Beat'em...The second letter would have had me laughing out loud, if it were not for the smelly homeless guy on the E train that had me covering my nose and mouth to keep from gagging.What do you do if your party moves too far left and loses consecutive presidential elections and deepens their hole in both the Senate and House? Convince the other side to do the same thing of course!This article could have been written a few years back about another President who usurped the courts (contrary to their base), like Bill Clinton sending Elian Gonzalez back to Castro against a court order. See if the libs would rethink their support for President Clinton and back more radical left-wingers.

Monday, March 28, 2005

Media Hail Failed BusinessSam Kimery is the genius behind Fox Blocker, a device that blocks FoxNews from a TV set. Sam has been selling these devices since August, to much fanfare, but very little sales. Alas, the media have found their new darling and the AP wrote a fluff piece for him. At $8.95, Sam has only sold 100* of the devices. From a business viewpoint, that's only 10 units or $90 a month, while that may be good sales for a Jennifer Lopez movie, it's surely not newsworthy figures.

On a side note, FoxNews averages 1,620,000 viewers during its daily primetime lineup. If all of Sam's customers used to watch FoxNews (which is not likely), the impact would bring Fox's numbers down to an average of 1,619,900 viewers during primetime (a 0.006% decrease) which is still more than double of CNN's figure of 805,000 primetime viewers.

America, we have an obesity problem! Get up off your lazy butt and change the channel if you cannot stand FoxNews. Instead of wasting your money on this device, go to Radio Shack they have a 3-in-1 Remote Control for $7.99, use the $0.96 you save to send to a starving child and enjoy the exercise.*Yahoo News reports 100 were sold, LJWorld publishes the same AP article and lists 1,000 units sold.Other linksMalkin slams the media on another subject

Precision Guided Humor Assignment:Signs the Terrorists are LosingWe have been given a mission from The Alliance. The mission is to show signs the terrorists are losing the war on terror. Here are a few I came up with, leave additional entries in the comments section below or email me and I will add them to the list.

Top 10 Signs the Terrorists are Losing10. Al-Qaida announces that martyrs will now only get 36 virgins and no more free falafels9. Jane Fonda gets hip replacement, won't return al-Zarqawi's calls8. Even The UN stops supporting terrorists7. Meeting Allah: suicide bomber reality show coming to Fox6. Wal-mart opens Beirut location, runs local kaffiyeh sellers out of business5. Latest beheading video found on Paris Hilton's Sidekick4. Democracy hotties are easier to hit on without the bulky bomb belt3. Terror training camps now offering valet parking and 1 month free membership2. For $50, you can buy a "Al-Jazeera Blocker" on Ebay1. Sean Penn drops Vietnam, starts comparing Iraq to Grenada

Sorry for the light blogging, I was getting my Catholicism on last week as I converted from Protestant to Catholic. When in the RCIA classes, I mentioned that I grew up in the Methodist chuch in the south, the Catholic group assumed we wore robes, drank poison, and handled snakes. Not true; while that would have been preferable to some of the long masses I sat through as a kid.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Boycott Pez!*The other day, I was incensed to see my fiancé using her mouth to eat the "devil's candy" (aka - Pez) straight from Patrick's crotch. What is this teaching our youth? Does this mean that Patrick goes both ways with Sponge Bob Squarepants? What is the deal with Patrick's 3 nipples and freakishly large bellybutton?Submit your jokes/outrage in the comments section below.*This post is a joke; I love Pez and we all know Patrick is gay.[linked on OTB - Traffic Jam and on Confederate Yankee]

The New York Daily News recently got into hot water after a misprint lead thousands of people to believe that they had just won big money, some up to $100,000. This same feeling happens to the poor people who mistakenly throw down $.50 for Newsday, thinking they just bought a newspaper. Their bias is blatent and the circulation for the rag is falling faster than J-Lo's movie career.

Newsday Letters To The Editor Conspiracy-meterGreen- low levels of conspiracy theoremYellow - for the mid-level conspiracy theoriesOrange - represents the next levelRed - for the most absurd levels of conspiracy theorem(The red entries also get awarded an official Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie)

Don't put politics in sports sectionCan't you please leave your political bias out of the sports page? ["Daily rant," Sports, March 12]. That's the only section I read, and I don't need to read daily rants knocking President George W. Bush. You have enough others doing it in your columns and editorials. Give us a break.Joseph Tufaro - Hauppauge

The president's blind supportersI was not exactly surprised to read the letter requesting that political rants against President George W. Bush be kept out of the sports section, which the letter writer claims is the only section that he actually reads ["Don't put politics in sports section," Letters, March 17].I guess this proves that the only way that Bush supporters manage to maintain their blind loyalty to this bumbling president is to avoid reading the news altogether.Richard Schloss - East Northport(See Also - Newsday Circ Drop Continues)

Bush backs off of apocalypseJames Watt, secretary of the Interior in President Ronald Reagan's cabinet, was very much a believer in the prophecy of "end times." Questioned about the policy of cutting down trees in the national forests, he replied that it does not matter because Jesus is coming soon.President George W. Bush has acted in the same fashion, and his complete disregard for the environment is further proof that he too believes "end times" are just around the corner. But since his re-election, all this "apocalypse is upon us" kind of thinking seems to be changing.All of a sudden, he is solemnly talking about the future - the long-term future of the Social Security funds. I wonder what brought about this change and who told him that the "end of life" scenario has been postponed. Will we know the answer or, because of national security, will it be sealed?G.M. Chandu - Flushing

More coverage of DeLay probeAs a longtime subscriber, I am disturbed by the way in which Newsday has covered or, more appropriately, failed to cover, the current ethical questions being raised regarding the behavior of Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas).I used to rely on Newsday to present reporting of important issues. What could be more important than the moral and ethical abuses that seem to emanate from this man like a black cloud?Caroline Quinn - Ronkonkoma(Someone is accusing Newsday of shilling for the right?)

Fishing industry pollutes and killsThank you for the article about mercury levels in fish ["Study finds mercury levels in N.J. tuna exceed FDA estimates," Newsday.com, March 9]. I think it is time for people to become aware of what is behind the curtains in the fishing industry... For those concerned about our Earth and our future, the best solution is to exclude fish from the menu and adopt a healthy vegan diet.Tanya Gleaned - Highland Park, N.J.(Got Tofu?)

Wanted: strong, silent typeWe all remember the time when the strong (men and nations) showed their strength by remaining quiet and silent and the weak compensated by acting rude and belligerent.Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hopes that John Bolton's appointment to the United Nations will work in the same way, and that his strong and rude (undiplomatic) personality will somehow compensate for our country's diminishing strength and stature in front of the world body.This appointment does not reflect our strength, and there is always the danger that members of the UN will conclude that this is a desperate attempt by the United States to regain its lost influence. Bolton is not capable of "winning friends and influencing people." Wrong person for the wrong job at the wrong time.Austine Molline - Jamaica(The UN's silence filled the graves of millions in Rwands, Sudan, Congo, Ivory Coast, Afghanistan, Iraq, and so on. The US lost influence? Why is the UN making sweeping reforms... to stop its massive fraud and loss of influence in the world)

Monday, March 21, 2005

click for a larger viewThe daily newspaper, amNew York, is a free newspaper put out by Newsday. This freebie has two things in common with Newsday: 1) it is way overpriced and 2) It slants left. I was flipping through the rag this morning and noticed the article above. From the first glance, title and first paragraph, you think it is another bad day in Iraq with a suicide bomber attack. Yet the article buries the news, in the 7th to the last line, that US forces killed 24 bad guys and wounded 7. Newsday published the same story under the headline, 7 Iraqi Civilians Killed by Insurgents.

A quick search on Yahoo news for "24 militants" reveals that most stories did not hide the fact that, out of the 30 people killed yesterday 80% were bad guys (good news).

1) What did I search for to end up at The Daily Kos?2) Post a comment or email me a photoshop3) Top entries will be posted on Thursday

Entries:-The Man

Pluto's Dad from Eyes on the Ball took the contest a step further and actually did some real searches to land on Kos. Here are two he submitted (click the picture for a larger view)."Condi catwoman eat out spayed cheney"

With Basil's call to arms, we are ready for battle against the sortawanker...sortapundit. To join the side of the allies, email me for information on how you can drive back the meatpie-eating sortapundit. The Democracy hotties of the Basil Revolution want you!

Thursday, March 17, 2005

New Precision Guided Humor Assignment: North Korea's GrievancesWe have been given a mission from The Alliance. The mission is to detail the reasons North Korea is so grumpy. Here are a few reasons I came up with, leave additional entries in the comments section below or email me and I will add them to the list.

Top 10 Reasons why DRNK is so grumpy10. Upset because Mario Vasquez left American Idol and a Google search for nude pictures of Mario Vasquez landed them on Confederate Yankee's site, which had no nude pictures of Mario Vasquez or Paris Hilton.9. It's that time of the month, and the South forgot to lower the toilet seat cover.8. Bush keeps calling and asking for a #6 with a side of fried rice and an egg roll.7. There are no cool Korean War video games on the PC.6. The government is working on generating nuclear power, people would prefer running water.5. Being on Axis of Evil was so 2003.4. People are too hungry to be grumpy about the Asian Chicken flu; the flu could kill millions of people who are lucky enough to have chickens to eat.3. World attention has moved to the upcoming conflict between Basil and Sortapundit.2. John Kerry cardboard cutout taking longer than 3-6 weeks to deliver.1. Severe lack of democracy hotties in Pyongyang

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

There have been 21 homicides in Philadelphia in the past 8 days, which makes the city more dangerous than all of Iraq during the same time frame. The mayor has even looked into calling in the National Guard.

Therefore we must ask the administration to pull out of Philadelphia, now! What will a prolonged presence in Philly get us besides a lackluster baseball team? No more blood for cheesesteaks!

You know because people don't kill people, guns do. The same mentality will soon have the mayor cracking down on Twinkies due to obesity-related deaths. They mayor also stated: "These are not hunters. People should not be authorized to carry weapons on the streets of Philadelphia unless they have a good reason to do so,". How about carrying weapons for self-defense because you live in a dangerous city with an incompetent mayor?

Authorities in St. Louis spent five hours inspecting boxes removed from a truck which were suspecting of containing explosives in boxes labeled "blasting caps" and "detonators" . Trained police dogs confirmed that explosives might be present. A relative of the truck driver had contacted the police, letting them know where the truck would be and warned that it might contain explosives.

After evacuating around 100 people, police robots were used to remove the boxes...which turned out to be empty. Now the story takes a strange turn, the trucker had been detained at a courthouse on Monday.

Authorities said that late Monday afternoon, the man tried to go through security at the St. Charles County Courthouse with a bulge in the back of his T-shirt. At first, deputies thought he could be wearing a bulletproof vest, said Capt. David Todd of the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department. Deputies let him in after finding what appeared to be a cape...

Could we have a rogue superhero helping the terrorists? The presence of explosives turned out to be empty boxes (possibly rendered invisible by some superpower), and the owner of the truck was wearing a cape. This also comes on the heels of Aquaman being hauled in for steroid abuse.

If you are Dutch and looking for information on TV's #1 action hero who saves the president every season, Jack Bauer... here is what you get from Dutch-Google:

I am a fan of 24, but found it insulting when they started an episode with a PSA to inform the public that 24 is fake and not all muslims are bad. That is why I wrote the Jack Bauer is a Sissy Post. Since the latest bad guy is a red-haired white boy in the Air Force, I would like to see a PSA letting the public know that not all white guys with red hair in the Air Force are not out to kill the president, like on TV. Where is the CWGAF (Coalition of White Guys in the Air Force) on this issue?I am also #1 for the search "jack bauer is a muslim"

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

A homeless man, who pocketed $115,000 of a $230,000 lawsuit in 1991 against a Morris Township (NJ) library, is now suing New Jersey Transit for $5,000,000 claiming they infringed on his civil rights. The fact is, the money from the first suit is gone and Richard Kreimer is looking for his next big legal payday, this time representing himself in court.Mr. Kreimer was thrown out of the Morris library five times after his body odor and appearance disturbed book-seeking patrons. A federal judge ruled the library's actions were unconstitutional. That ruling was later overturned, but Kreimer had already been paid.The current suit is against New Jersey Transit, the city of Summit, nine police officers, and others on the grounds that Kreimer was unlawfully thrown out of train stations. The suit asks a federal judge to determine if the train stations are public or private property and the rights of people who are not there to ride a train. A ruling that could affect anyone who pays good money to ride the train or wants to live in a train station for free.A friend of mine is a New Jersey Transit cop; they spend a good deal of time dealing with the homeless. Many are not a threat, but a few can snap and assault officers or legitimate customers of NJ Transit. They need to be moved so that the train stations (and libraries) do not become a homeless shelter, driving paying customers away or putting them in harm. Bravo to the transit cops, they have a hard job and perform it well.(Source - AP)

Last week's installment of Newsday Letters to the Editor sparked the first ever "letter to the blogger". Where a person wrote to Newsday, had their letter published, then googled their own name to find it listed here. It is truly where blogs and MSM meet on the other side. Carl, I would call you self-centered for googling yourself, but everyone does it. You can see the exchange that started it all here. I was arguing the merits of a cartoon duck while being accused of supporting homosexual prostitution, while not a fun as having my first death threat, it still provided for a few laughs.

Newsday Letters To The Editor Conspiracy-meterGreen- low levels of conspiracy theoremYellow - for the mid-level conspiracy theoriesOrange - represents the next levelRed - for the most absurd levels of conspiracy theorem(The red entries also get awarded an official Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie)

Good riddance to RatherDan Rather will leave a legacy of bias and a contrived unpleasant personality - a man who nearly destroyed his news division. Rather will say goodbye tonight, but who will care? Even his colleagues turned on him.It's a question of chickens coming home to roost. CBS' problem was that it left Rather as a loose cannon when he should have been closely watched and not allowed to insult and disrespect three presidents and get away with it. For years he infuriated middle America with his liberal slantof the news. It comes down to Rather hurting his news division, and he should have beenfired long ago.Anthony Lembo - Mastic Beach(See, Newsday lets a few republican views slip through)'Mallard' shows liberals are foolsI really enjoy Mallard Fillmore. Bruce Tinsley sees the absurdity of the liberal point of view in a way liberals can never see for themselves and why they appear so foolish and out of touch with the great middle class.I suppose it's one of those values things. And those who don't get it never will.Patrick Grant - Brooklyn(Are these actually Letters to the NY Post?)

Stop gripingand seek office"Budget cuts betray America" [Letters, March 7]states that "we [Americans] are fat, lazy, self-righteous and greedy." The writer continues to blast President George W. Bush for a variety of ills that affect out country and says we are to blame. Fair enough, but while I can stand to lose a fewpounds, I most certainly am not lazy, self-righteous and greedy. I can say the same for many friends and associates.Sadly, the most recent election did not offer much choice. While I voted for the president, it was the lesser of two evils for me. I'm sure many who voted for John Kerry felt that he was their lesser of two evils. Since the writer seems to have a lot of complaints, perhaps she should get her hands dirty, run for elected office and try to make things better. Mike Miello - St. James(Newsday's editors must have taken the week off)ACLU: terror's handmaidenI just don't get it. The American Civil Liberties Union says that terrorists are entitled to rights under the Geneva Convention. It opposes the Patriot Act, the no-fly list and doesn't want the feds to give information about illegal aliens living in our neighborhoods to local law enforcement.It defends terrorists like Mohammed Atta who caused 9/11 and others like him so they will not be mistreated by our government. I haven't seen anything the ACLU has done to help stop terrorists. All it does is help them by complaining about America with its liberal garbage, instead of defending it. The terrorists really have a friend in the ACLU.Richard Shaw - Forest Hills(Someone call 9-1-1, Newsday has been taken over by the Mallard Fillmore-wing of the Republican party)

Bush kids us about the youngHearing President George W. Bush and his pocketful of Republican "reformers" talk so much about how they care about the future of our children makes me laugh (cry) in regard to Social Security reform.Bush refuses to care about the air our children are breathing and the condition of the planet we will be leaving to them. (I imagine Bush thinks global warming is just a big glove the planet puts on in the winter.) But as long as our children have their own "personal Social Security accounts," all will be fine. (They can spend their retirement money on purified oxygen and water).Susan Scharf - Flushing(Whew, I was getting nervous)

The bad news is overwhelmingThe bad news is coming so fast that I can't write about it all. Do I write about the Italian journalist being shot? Or the CIA shipping people overseas to be tortured? Or the price of gas going up to record highs? Or that President George W. Bush appointed John Bolton, a man who hates the United Nations, to head the U.S. delegation at the United Nations? Or the destruction of Social Security? Or the continuing problems like the federal deficit, going deeper and deeper and deeper into debt. The tax cuts for the rich, the war in Iraq, the coming war in Iran - there's just no end to the bad news.If Bush actually was elected - which I don't believe he was - America made a really bad choice.Marc Perkel - San Francisco, Calif.(Newsday redeemed itself, they actually printed this letter twice this week here and here)

Strip Clubs and adult bookstores in Tennessee will soon have to charge a $2.00 on top of what they already charge for admission to cover the latest tax idea to come out of Nashville (home of the self-titled "world's largest adult books store"). Currently, if 50% of the material at a business is classified as "adult" then the establishment is listed as an Adult Business. The lawmakers are also looking at lowering the percentage from 50 to 40, or even 25%. I know of some gas stations that could then be labeled "adult businesses".

The proceeds from this tax will go to lobby Hollywood to use The Volunteer State as a filming location....but, only if the movie will feature the ''best side of woman.'

Friday, March 11, 2005

Car Trouble Photoshop ContestThe story of the Communist Journalist, Giuliana Sgrena and her fanciful conspiracy theory that US soldiers wanted to kill her, have really touched a nerve with me. This far left journo-wacko who has done her best to slander our troops and their mission. It is time to push back.

1) Photoshop these pictures, or any photo on the story, click here for some more options. Click on the images for a larger view.2) Email me the entries and I will post them.

EntriesSobek sent me this entry with the suggestion for starting a Giuliana Sgrena photoshop contest.-Sobek

If the US Military really wanted to kill Ms. Sgrena, there are more effective methods than an ambush.- The Man

She should have been suspicious when she saw the car the Marines provided for her.-Sobek

Thursday, March 10, 2005

According to Giuliana Sgrena, US soldiers fired 300-400 rounds (from a tank), in an attempt to kill her. She still has not explained why the soldiers then rushed her to a US-run hospital to treat her wounds.Below is an AP picture of the car Ms. Sgrena was riding in at the time.

Below is a GOP and the City analysis of what the car should look like if the US military really wanted to kill Ms. Sgrena.Other LinksJawa is leading the search for the truthSobek has another AP imageCY has CSI-BaghdadNow You Know

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

When an SAT prep test asks the students to write an essay, you never know what view or thought you are going to get on paper. The following is an essay from a student who was asked "Is the view of the majority always right?"

What do the TV show Full House, war with China, and a busted house party have in common? Read on to find out. Click on the images for a larger view.

Sounds legit to me. Full House was a good show until the Olsen twins got hot.

Not to squash this kid's creative license, but I don't remember a "Jessica" on the cast of Full House. Click Here for the cast list, no Jessica. I did a little more research and there was an episode titled "Driving Miss DJ", there was no mention of uncle Jessie being forced into letting someone drive. If someone knows the episode that the essay is referring to, let me know.

In the next analysis, our essayist references a movie, The Day Before.I have never heard of a movie that has the USA losing to China in a war. The closest thing I could think of was Gung-Ho, but that involved a car plant headed by Michael Keaton and Korea. Note the line: "most of America's soldiers die because of a large bomb". So I went to the IMDB database and found The Day Before (2000), which is about a draftee having to choose between basic training or fleeing to Canada during the Vietnam war. You have to give the kid credit, he made up the plot of a movie and tailored it to fit his argument. Just for fun, here is "The Day Before" in Chinese - 頭天 .Not to overshadow the arguments using false plots for Full House and The Day Before (頭天), in the next paragraph they call out a friend (by name) who got busted for having a party. The author was invited but stayed home because there was booze at the party ("true to my morals"). I guess lying on the previous 2/3rds of the essay is also true to those morals. One sign that Jimmy's party kicked major ass, it ends up in an SAT essay. Hey Jimmy, next time you have a party send me an invite, email me.Jimmy, send me an invite. Don't bother with this loser; they are not your friend and probably think Stephanie was the hot kid on Full House.Other LinksPart 1Part 2Part 3